Una Victoria Grande

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Squeaking out a 1-0 victory over a team that is 3rd to last in the Eastern Conference and is playing in the final game of a 3 game West Coast road trip is nothing to get too excited about. But as Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy calmly said to me tonight… “2 points are 2 points.” I hate it when he is right.

Kings 1, Island of Misfit Kings 0

The craziest thing about the Los Angeles Kings victory Saturday night over the New York Islanders? The fact that the Kings are 10-0-1 when Brad Richardson scores a goal. No wonder Coach Murray moved him back to the top line! Scoring one goal against a team made up mainly of Los Angeles Kings prospect cast-offs (Matt Moulson, Jeff Tambellini, Jon Sim, Tim Jackman) does not give me the best faith in the new lines created during the latest edition of Coach Murray’s Line Combinations of Fun™. Ryan Smyth, Jarret Stoll and Scott Parse as the 4th line? But as great minds say… 2 points are 2 points.

Nothing like Spring hockey in Los Angeles. 70 degrees at game time.

A simply gorgeous day in LA. The kind of day that even though 30 Rock makes a great joke about my hometown… it simply doesn’t matter.

[youtube]pz8fV-YvBaM#t=0m29s[/youtube]

So what is the only thing that can ruin a great day like Saturday? Laker Fans.

Half Season Ticket Holder Buddy shows his distaste for all things Laker related.

That’s right, there were a ton of Laker fans milling about the exterior of Staples Center attending something called Lakers Fan Jam. Nothing like throwing a huge convention to show off your team… in the middle of its season. What’s the only thing that would take away the stench of having so many Laker fans this close to a Kings home game? Hardcore New York Islander fans, of course!

The only NHL player who was named after the way he played.

New York and LA can get along.

NHL great Denis Potvin was at the game tonight, chatting with another NHL legend.

Man, Scott Stevens has really let himself go since retiring.

But the biggest event of the day was the celebration of Latino Heritage Night. And how does one mix the sport of hockey with the heritage of Latinos? Let’s take a look at the menu!

1 LA Galaxy ticket. Check.2 passes to the Conga Room. CheckAll that is missing is 3 tacos at Rosa Mexicano and you’ve got a Latino trifecta.

As opposed to the other Kings Heritage Nights, the Russian and Armenianflavors… the Latino one was kind of disappointing. Honestly, all I saw was a couple of bored conga players walking around the building.

“I’m so glad Mom paid for 4 years at Berklee for us so we could do this.”

As always check out the awesome Lighthouse Hockey for all the Islanders news and views. Hopefully, the Kings can build upon this game since probably the 2 most important games of the remainder of the season are coming up on Monday and Wednesday… a home and away series with the “1 point behind the Kings” Colorado Avalanche. The Kings are 9 points away from first in the Pacific… and 5 points away from being out of the playoffs. Oh yeah, it’s the stretch run all right.